Roll Cage for a trike / Bike

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Aug 5, 2020
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Here is an example of a roll cage for a tadpole trike


Here is a version for a bike

These are not an item that is readily for sale in the United States.

The first link is from an Australian vendor that will sell a trike with a roll cage. I have not seen one that can be used with existing commercial trikes.

I think there might be some demand for something like this. I've seen a guy on youtube that fabricated his own roll cage-but he did this by eye-- he had no formal plans.

I wanted to see if anyone shares my interest in such a product.
 
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If you are in sufficient an accident to need a roll cage you either need to be firmly fixed to the seat, which itself must be solidly fixed to the chassis, so as to stay inside the cage in order to let that cage do it's job, or you need to be able to be thrown clear so you can have your accident separate from the trike. Karts have no retaining straps or cage as it's deemed safer to be thrown clear. Having a roll cage and no retaining straps like the one in the video offers the worst of both options in that it ensures you can't be thrown clear and you have the trike striking you as you tumble together. It's possible his cage may have been designed more with future enclosing bodywork in mind than as crash protection. Given it's a tilter it's less likely to tip anyway than a std tadpole. The one in the first link has the rider firmly strapped in but the cage looks very weedy. As it's a racing trike it appears to be designed only to deal with accidents with other trikes or bikes on a racetrack. I doubt is is expected to withstand a road accident. About the only application I can see for any similar safety structure is to stop a car running over the top of the trike in as such as the structure would hopefully ensure you were pushed away from the car rather than as anything that was sufficiently structural as to withstand a roll. I'm thinking of side impact and frontal impact protection. Karts use large plastic deformable structures for this but on a street going trike they'd need to be mounted much higher than on a Kart. Having only front and side impact structures would still allow you a good chance to be thrown clear if the accident got bad enough.

A complete Velomobile shell could act as impact protection if made from several times the amount of fibreglass they are usually made from. They are normally only strong enough to hold themselves up to keep weight down.
 
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The first one is probably for the school races that they have there. There they have surten rules because they race with many recumbents on a small track.
It is more protection against other riders then going over with the trike.
A roll cage for a trike is useful for mounting a body to. If you don't make it streamlined, then you only ad extra weight and with the weight high upp, you only roll over faster.

For safety, it isn't needed as you just ride around.
The frame that they made is good for rolling over and against the impact of an other trike. But as a car hits it, it is like a bike helmet, useless.
Or you need to build a strong one, but that ads a lot of weight.


I like it with the body. They go fast and are lower then a normal velomobile and very fast.
 
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The babel bike roll cage (the 2nd link) was crash tested with an idea of protecting cyclists from collisions with autos/trucks. They also strap the rider in. That was discussed in other links. That bike is not being sold any more.

You may be right that the trike roll cages were not designed with auto/trike collisions.

If you are in sufficient an accident to need a roll cage you either need to be firmly fixed to the seat, which itself must be solidly fixed to the chassis, so as to stay inside the cage in order to let that cage do it's job, or you need to be able to be thrown clear so you can have your accident separate from the trike. Karts have no retaining straps or cage as it's deemed safer to be thrown clear. Having a roll cage and no retaining straps like the one in the video offers the worst of both options in that it ensures you can't be thrown clear and you have the trike striking you as you tumble together. It's possible his cage may have been designed more with future enclosing bodywork in mind than as crash protection. Given it's a tilter it's less likely to tip anyway than a std tadpole. The one in the first link has the rider firmly strapped in but the cage looks very weedy. As it's a racing trike it appears to be designed only to deal with accidents with other trikes or bikes on a racetrack. I doubt is is expected to withstand a road accident. About the only application I can see for any similar safety structure is to stop a car running over the top of the trike in as such as the structure would hopefully ensure you were pushed away from the car rather than as anything that was sufficiently structural as to withstand a roll. I'm thinking of side impact and frontal impact protection. Karts use large plastic deformable structures for this but on a street going trike they'd need to be mounted much higher than on a Kart. Having only front and side impact structures would still allow you a good chance to be thrown clear if the accident got bad enough.

A complete Velomobile shell could act as impact protection if made from several times the amount of fibreglass they are usually made from. They are normally only strong enough to hold themselves up to keep weight down.
 
Joined
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I didn't read all the details, but I thought the 2 wheeler with roll cage seemed immediately a bit funny. Who is so scared that they need a roll cage but still happy to ride a bike with one? What madmax death roads are you choosing to ride on?
The infomercial in my head.. "Are you sick of being run over by trucks? Well we have a product for you!"
I'd rather wear a motorbike armoured jacket and i think that'd be more useful in most common cycling accidents.

Maybe if you're downhill mountain triking then a roll cage could be an idea worth looking into.. otherwise It seems a bit strange to me.
 
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Well the babel Bike was not a big hit, so you may be correct. I posted it here because i liked the concept and thought the bike roll cage might have a broader appeal as an add on for existing bikes.

The sister of a friend of mine had a nasty bike accident in Portland--a fairly bike friendly city. She is now paralyzed from the neck down. I suspect had she been using a rollcage seat like that one, she would not have had that problem.

It seems to me like a roll cage seat like the babel bike is fairly doable project. I'd like to hear others thoughts on that.

I do btw live on a 5 mile gravel moutain road.

I didn't read all the details, but I thought the 2 wheeler with roll cage seemed immediately a bit funny. Who is so scared that they need a roll cage but still happy to ride a bike with one? What madmax death roads are you choosing to ride on?
The infomercial in my head.. "Are you sick of being run over by trucks? Well we have a product for you!"
I'd rather wear a motorbike armoured jacket and i think that'd be more useful in most common cycling accidents.

Maybe if you're downhill mountain triking then a roll cage could be an idea worth looking into.. otherwise It seems a bit strange to me.
 
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The rollcage is tried earlier, but failed.ecause it created other problems. That is why other people that tried it, stopped developing them.

I wouldn't feel safe ad all, strapped into a seat on a bicycle. And on my trike, I don't see the value ad all for safety outside racing like they do in Australia. As I ad something like that, I would use it for a body mount.

This roll cage only gives a fake feeling of safety, just like a bike helmet.
It is nice that you want to protect yourself and others. But this isn't helping ad all. It makes it only more dangerous.
As you want yo be safe, ditch the helmet and learn to accept that you are vulnerable on a bike and ride like that! It us proven to be way more safe.
 
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